Tossin’ It Out There: What do YOU think of JJ Abrams directing the next Star Wars movie?

Word broke last week that JJ Abrams will be handed the reigns of the first Disney owned Star Wars production, the as yet untitled Star Wars VII. Obviously, this was a huge story and the internet exploded.

I want to know what YOU think. As a producer, Abrams has made a number of famous television projects and a couple of films, but as a director his filmography really boils down to three films, “Mission Impossible III”, “Star Trek”, and “Super 8″ (with another Star Trek film pending).

What do YOU think? Is that enough? Are you excited over the announcement? Does your geek brain recoil at the cross-over between the Star Trek and Star Wars universes? Do you think we’ll be able to WATCH a lightsaber duel with all that lens flaring?

Long answer: I’m in agreement with most of the Hallsian posts I’ve seen here. The new Trek is more Wars than Trek. This is fine for movies, because the Trek movies that were more Trek than Wars were awful. Star Wars should have a fantasy adventure feel, with summer blockbuster calibre action sequences, chases, and Wilhelm screams.

I don’t think it matters who directs, writes, produces, or anything else, this movie… Rabid fans and young children will love it, or ignore it. Average adult fans will hate it, or tolerate it. There’s no good or bad decisions to be made here, because they’re in the position of dealing with a beloved property that spans across approximately 3 different generations of fans now.

Oh… I dont know. I think there could have been a LOT worse answers than this. And some better ones. But at the end of the day, we’ll have to wait to see the product. And you’re right, there will probably be a divide along people who are predisposed to have one opinion or another.

I’m not actually a fan of the fact that the new Trek is more Wars than Trek. LOL. I wonder if that forebodes the fact that the New Wars wont have the feel of the franchise either. Thats my big worry.

Mostly I just feel curious. I’m not enthused. I’m not overly concerned either. I haven’t seen enough out of Abrams as a director to really say either way. I mean, overall, I’m probably more on the “wary” side than the “optimistic” side, but this is as much because Abrams isn’t a slam-dunk than because of any outright issues with him.

Yeah, I’m not sure how exactly to feel about him. My biggest impression of him is as a TV creator. Directorially, his stuff is slick, but… they’re not my favorite movies ever or anything. Not that they need to be. I have mixed feelings too I suppose is the easiest way to put it. :(

I tend to feel the same as Morgan…I am mainly curious but not too concerned.

I actually have been pretty impressed by the majority of Abrams’ stuff…and I am also a big fan with his way of keeping things secret and allowing there to be an element of surprise in his films. (a hard thing to do nowadays). all the “lens flare” comments on the web are funny, but it doesn’t really annoy me. Matter of fact, I didn’t even pay that much attention to it in his movies until this past week. (thanks, social media).

I think it will be pretty neat. regardless, I’m just glad they finally picked someone and can move forward…Time will tell and I’m sure it will be great, seeing as he has some great sources to draw from.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice the lens flare stuff either until it became something of an internet meme. I happened to like the overall brighter design aesthetics. Sci-fi in the 2000’s had gotten too Matrix-y and Blade-Runner-esque (with the opposite spectrum being occupied by Star Wars, which was too cartoony), so it was nice to see a future that was a) unique, and b) kind of a fun looking future you wouldn’t mind living in. Besides, if you were hurtling through the inky blackness of space, wouldn’t it sorta make sense that the interiors would be as bright an shiny as possible? You know, just to improve morale in general. :)

I remember the other criticism being how the new Enterprise looking like an iPod. Then again, the original Star Trek was very much a mod art installation, so I got no problems with the series adapting to the style of the era.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Star Wars needs to go Dark! Like what Christopher Nolan did for Batman. I love JJ Abrams but he won’t be able to pull that off. I’m sure it will be pretty good though.

He is the perfect man to restore Lucas’ original intentions for the Star Wars Universe. I have it on good authority that the original concept had Jabba The Hut actually looking like a smoke monster, but they didn’t have the proper technology yet, so they went with a blob instead. And Yoda secretly knew that the Force really radiated not from life, but from a small “island” on one of the Klingon moons. Plus, the grand finale has to have some time travel showing that Jack, Hurley and both Spocks (Nimoy & Quinto) were actually the ones who blew up the death star, and that in a miracle of circularity Luke Skywalker was actually Darth Vader’s father as well!

All kidding aside (although I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these “concepts” got a showing somewhere), I think Abrams will do fine. I mean, the whole point of these series is just to make money for the studios. At this point, they aren’t really supposed to be original in any way, just a bit of nostalgia for folks. In a sense, they ARE like tv episodes, just ones that come out every few years instead of every week. And as box office magnets, they tend to work regardless of what they do with it. Stick to the universe and people will praise it and give it lots of publicity so that it makes good money. Don’t stick to the universe and people will go nuts attacking it, which is also a form of publicity that raises the awareness of the film and brings in the money.

Still, I predict that Episode 7 will be nowhere near as good as Star Wars: Episode Super 8: The Lost Trek, or Star Wars: Episode District 9: An Impossible Mission.

Oh godddddd… thanks for stirring up my WORST fears. :D I’m deeply afraid that Abrams will come up with a GREAT original idea and then have no idea how to wrap it up. Kind of like Alias, and Lost, and Fringe, and… LOL

I fully realize it’s going to be a huge money maker no matter. But I wonder if the next chapters would be if this first one sucked. IS Star Wars eternally bullet proof? It just had three stinkers in a row, could it survive a fourth?

I think this is great news, especially when you consider so many painful alternatives. I’ve enjoyed a lot of Abrams work back to Alias and think he’s shown a lot of promise as a director. I have even more hope for the franchise after hearing this news.

I’m quite quietly excited I think. JJ’s a good director. In his TV career he’s had a knack for kicking things off and then trusting the people around him to run with it. He’s got a good group of talent he could use for Star Wars. People who’ve been with him for a long time. So while it’s just his name that’s been picked out as the director, it won’t be just him, but his whole team.

Plus, JJ clearly loves his sci-fi. He brought Star Trek back to us and didn’t taint it one bit. The hardcore fans were just as happy with it as the people who’d never seen an episode or film before.

LOL. Good to hear. You definitely bring up a couple of reassuring points there. a) This is CLEARLY a man who is all about the sci-fi, right? I mean, everything he does is sci-fi. B) If his TV work is any indication, he’s great at getting things started, even if they dont always end well. His early seasons and premieres etc etc are great.

So looking at it from a trilogy perspective, maybe he’ll kick this one off well, too! :D

We’ll see, I guess, won’t we. On the plus side of all of that, he’s not in charge of the script (although we all know directors have final say). His movies havent been bad though Jack, I cant say any of his big three havent been good. MI:3, Super 8, Trek…. they’re all good to very good at least.

I’m a little concerned to be honest. I know he’s entering a really difficult project but I wouldn’t pile on the fanboys just yet. There’s some merit to the skepticism you hear from some.

I am (apparently) one of the few who had a lukewarm reaction to his Star Trek film. I’m no big Trekkie but the movie wasn’t Star Trek. He Hollywoodized it big time and would argue he didn’t even do that very well. Super 8 had a good first half but fell off terrible in the second half, something I attribute to the writing first and foremost.

I liked Star Trek, but I’ll be the first to say that he sold out the spirit of the original franchise, and that’s a big concern here. When Star Trek is at its best, it’s thought provoking and filled with moral quandries… not just flashy action sequences and humor beats. And, like a lot of his tv shows, Super 8 did limp across the finish line.

Still, I think like you indicate… it’s only a cause for a little concern. There’s still a lot of room for optimism.

Yeah, and thankfully, it sounds as though they’ve put together a good team to work on the script. Per earlier comments, Micheal Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) is writing, with Laurance Kasdan and Simon Kinberg as “script consultants”.

I’m pretty excited about this news. While my main concern is keeping the difference in tone between Star Wars and Star Trek, I think Abrams was a good choice. He’s a Star Wars fan himself, so I think he’s really going to try to do the series justice.

I’m going to step out of the norm around here and fully admit that I’m a Trekkie and quite a big Star Wars fan (I married into it….only way a Trekkie say that, I think), so I’m certainly not indifferent to either franchise. I am, however, fairly indifferent about Abrams. Which is how I prefer it, honestly. Means I’m not bucking like a crazed bronco at the decision out of repulsion, but I’m also not incredibly hopeful and prone to disappointment. So, all is well. For now.

I just hope they cast Dane DeHaan (the bad egg in Chronicle) as a Skywalker. He’d make for a great one. That’s my biggest wish for now.

My husband is worried Han Solo is going to throw back a Bud to the Beastie Boys, though.

Yeah, there was some anachronistic stuff going on in Star Trek, no? LOL I have to rewtach that soon in prep for Into Darkness.

You’re right, thats probably the best way to be. Just wait and see, you know? I could see Dane De Hann as an evil Jedi… someone on the dark side. Hell, Chronicle was pratically an audition for that role! LOL

Hopefully Abrams will be better with his actors and actresses in terms of coaching than Lucas was. Because, hell, you cant be any worse! LOL

The honest to goodness truth about Abrams is that he’s not a very good filmmaker. He has a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, he’s very creative, and he can work well with actors while stitching together big, exciting action set pieces, but he’s also really unfocused and has little to no idea how to link the small stuff into the big stuff in a way that feels organic. Star Trek is really a series of incidents more than it is a cohesive story; stuff happens for the sake of stuff happening and so that more stuff can happen, not because it necessarily makes sense. Which makes for a fun movie, but not necessarily a great, plot-driven one.

His lens flares, to put it another way, are the least of his problems.

So this could either be good or bad. I’m leaning towards good, since Star Wars– the original films– are basically catered to suit his indulgences as a narrator. Lucas’ first trilogy is more or less just one giant series of incidents, and each of those movies works on its own and remains lasting and important and influential today for reasons beyond his storytelling ability. I think that says good things about Abrams’ potential here, especially since he’ll have structure, discipline, and direction from Lucasfilm to keep his more ADD tendencies in check. (In theory.)

I’m looking forward to it. If nothing else, it’ll be better than the prequel films, though I acknowledge that that’s a really poor measuring stick.

Mmmm… I’m not sure I agree with your thoughts on the original trilogy, there, but you have a point about Abrams Star Trek movie, for sure. And that’s a little of what I’m afraid of. That he’ll create a flashy action movie with nothing under the hood.

It’s all going to be okay. Many Trek fans went through all this worrying a few years back. The 2009 film was great and as a Trek fan for well over 30 years I welcomed the change that made Trek young and exciting again. Changed the spirit of Trek? Seriously? It’s been and ever changing world for years. With each different version there have been different ideas and a change in spirit. Trek has never been about being tight with one set of ideas and that’s always been part of the appeal to me. I think he will be a good fit for Star Wars too. They are going to have plenty of action and some new ideas too. There will be piles of complainers who will criticize him every step of the way, but if they don’t like it then they don’t have to go see them.

Well… I’m hoping that you’re right. BUt, I would still disagree a bit about the change in tone in Star Trek. I’ve been a fan my whole life too, and the new movie (though it was really very good) sacrificed the typical “moral quandry” element for action. I hope the second one settles in, I really think that ths “Sweet Spot” is between the two. A little more actual “sci-fi” a la the original series/movies and just tone the action down a little bit so it doesn’t feel like Tintin in Space. LOL

I’m sure it’ll be good, but seeing as I just watched Trek ’09 last night, I’m more adamant than ever he needs to dial the lens flares back! LOL :D

The moral quandry may come back in the new film. The first film was working to establish a lot of characters and a lot of worlds and elements of Trek. So he was attempting a lot in one movie and mostly it worked. We fans always expect everything though and that may not happen, but I am sure the new film will be great. I enjoyed the fast pace and the action, but if there is more of a balance in the new film that’s fine by me too. I am also sure a bunch of fans will gripe as well no matter what the film is like, but that’s the way it goes. Oh, wait this topic was about Star Wars. I think he’ll make that exciting again too. There will a change in the approach of course, but that’s bound to happen with anyone different coming in. Star Wars to me has always been for kids (not a bad thing) and with Disney in the mix that will continue. Which will lead to a bunch of adults griping endlessly about this not being the Star Wars that they grew up. Life will go on :)

I’m a big fan of Abrams work Star Trek reboot, Alias, Person of Interest, etc.
But some William Shatner included may not be such a big fan of him switching from Star Trek to the other mega space odyssey of Star Wars franchise.
Here’s Shatner’s take from mashable…http://mashable.com/2013/02/13/shatner-abrams-pig/
I mirror Brik and HDecker views.
Oh yeah, I can’t wait for this one from Abrams. ;-)